Airports in London

The city of London has five airports - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City and Luton airport.

Heathrow Airport
Of the three London city airport, Heathrow is the busiest as well as the largest and consists of 4 huge ultra modern terminals. Each of the four terminals are categorized in terms of world wide destinations. For instance, Terminal 1 is exclusively meant for UK and Ireland flights, Terminal 2 for European destinations, Terminal 3 for long haul destinations and Terminal 4 is the exclusive domain of British Airways and partner KLM's European and long haul destinations.

After Heathrow, Gatwick is UK's second largest airport and in terms of traffic is the seventh busiest airport in the world. Although Gatwick has always been playing second fiddle to Heathrow in terms of magnitude of operations, in one particular count, Gatwick has scored a perfect 10 and that is being the busiest single runway airport in the world. With 90 airlines operating out of Gatwick's two terminals - Northern and Southern Terminal to more than 200 top destinations in the world, is in itself a commendable achievement.

Standsted Airport
The third London city airport in terms of both size and magnitude of operations is the Stansted Airport. It's a quaint little airport, little by UK standards but certainly not by Afro-Asian standard.
With 33 renowned airlines operating to more than 150+ destinations world wide, it is UK's fourth busiest airport. Also, Westminster, which houses the core government departments is just 10 kms away from the City airport and Canary Wharf, London's upcoming commercial hub is just 5 kms. away.

London Luton Airport
London Luton airport is UK's fastest growing airport and if statistics are to be believed, in the past 10 years, the airport has witnessed a staggering 400% increase in the number of passengesr.

The airport is one of the finest examples of the coming together of public -private partnership wherein the London Luton Borough owns the airport publicly and a private consortium - London Luton Airport Operations Ltd. operates and manages the day-to-day functioning of the airport.

Flights to London
Never before has long haul travel to London been so affordable and convenient. With the arrival of budget and no-frills airlines not only London, but Europe as a whole has become a lot smaller for everyone. Airline tickets are being offered at unbelievably low and heavily discounted price. There are certain schemes wherein you only need to pay the airport tax. You can find many london city airport hotels and hotels near london city airport for the best food and luxurious living.

Of course, London is the best place to buy horribly cheap air-tickets. If you have friends and acquaintances in UK, they can be of great help to you.

All the London airports are well connected to the city center. But don't hire a taxi from any London airports. They generally charge an exorbitant rate. Going by train or bus is more advisable. For instance London Heathrow is well connected by both the London Underground (Tube) as well as round the clock bus services. Similarly, London Gatwick has the fabulous Gatwick Express, which connects Gatwick to the London city center.